FRANKENSTEIN, by Mary Shelley, a book full of history :
"...The republican institutions of our country have produced simpler and happier manners than those which prevail in the great monarchies that surround it. Hence there is less distinction between the several classes of its inhabitants; A servant in Geneva does not mean the same thing as a servant in France and England..." (p.58)
"...Through te work I obtained a cursory knowledge of history and a view of the several empires present existing in the world. It gave me an insight into the manners, governments and religions of the different nations of the earth. I heard of the slothful Asiatics; of the stupendous genius and mental activity of the Grecians; of the wars and wonderful virtue of the early Romans - of their subsequent degenerating - of the decline of that mighty empire, of chivalry, Christianity, and kings. I heard of the discovery of the American hemisphere and wept with Safie over the hapless fate of its Original inhabitants" (p.118).
"...She instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion and taught her to aspire to higher powers of intellect and an independence of spirit forbidden to the female followers of Mahomet. (...) The prospect of marrying a Christian and remaining in a country where women were allowed to take a rank in society was enchanting to her..." (.123).